Hey all, new user here. Great site as I can say I have viewed for a few years now. Now I can participate as I just brought home a '69 Camaro vert with a 396. When I got it home and off the trailer I noticed the oil was about an 1.5" above the full mark on the dipstick. I called the guy and he said his guys always used 6 quarts of oil. It's an aftermarket dipstick (chrome). So now I'm freakin on what the dipstick measurements should be and even better but what oil to use. I've read several other posts that seems the majority uses 10w40. Non roller motor (has the lower height valve covers) with a stock pan. Also wanted to verify what year, etc. the engine is. Is there a way to do that without pulling the engine? I think it's located on a pad on the back side of engine, drivers side? I'm assuming the engine is close to year correct as it has a winters intake (snowflake) which I think means rectangle port heads. The guy I got it from was pretty hands off so NOT a good turnover on the car.

Thanks all for such a great site. Really enjoy all your previous posts.

Pass side deck under alternator, should be the engine code. Post here and it will be decoded, meaning, HP, date built, and where built. Drvr side side top of bellhousing is the casting number of the block. This would tell the availabilty of the future of the block.

Winters snowflake on the intake does not necessarily mean rect port heads. Removing the rocker covers and getting the casting number and date code, will tell the original intent of the heads and build date.

Give a man a rescued dog for the health of both their souls.'With age comes wisdom, but then wisdom ages you even more.'OtherStuff'CUBS - 2016 World Series Champions

Thanks guys! I will certainly go check right now and report back ASAP! Still a bit confused on the oil capacity. Is that 5 quarts + 1 for oil filter = 6, or 5 total? Any general info on weight? Just too much info out there on if oil has zinc, etc. as supposedly oil isn'y made the same today for newer cars.

Allright Everett, don't gig me for a dirty car! I just brought it home. : )

Dang near all passenger installed BBC oil pans were 4 quarts (5 with filter) capacity as listed in the service documents.
There were obvious exceptions for some HP Corvette and HD truck applications which could be 5~7 quart.

They were/are all around the same depth (+/- 1/2"), again with a few exceptions for HD/Industrial application, with the main variable being the legth/design of the main sump area.
I commonly refer to them as;
3-step = most 4-quart 'passenger' pans
2-step = many 5-quart 'Vette HP applications
1-step = some 6~7-quart HD/Industrial applications
(If you look at the pan you can see that they 'step' up from the front seal area as described about)

So ... I would figure it is a 4-quart pan if it is 'stock' to your application and proceed as such.
You could check by draining sump - filling with 4-quarts of fresh oil and checking level on dipstick - if it still looks 'low', then check you dip-stick against a stock offering or if it's exactly 1-quart 'low' then add that last quart and figure someone replaced the pan along the way with a high cap. unit ...

Post some pics of your oil pan. That may help determine what you have. It might have a Corvette pan on it.

... Still a bit confused on the oil capacity. Is that 5 quarts + 1 for oil filter = 6, or 5 total? Any general info on weight? Just too much info out there on if oil has zinc, etc. as supposedly oil isn'y made the same today for newer cars.

Allright Everett, don't gig me for a dirty car! I just brought it home. : )

It should be 4 quarts + 1 for Filter change = 5 Total - as long as it's the common 'stock' passenger oil pan ...

As far as oil - would need to know more about engine, cam, driving conditions and other info before we could accurately answer.
But as a general rule - if the engine is built to 'stock' spec.s and has a 'flat' tappet cam, then a 10w40 oil with a can of EOS (or a higher ZDDP spec.) would be the normal recommendation ...

1968 Convertible
Some trucks
Other V8 things - some of which float
Other V6 things - none of which float
Oh yeah, and 1 "Straight-Six" ...

If a man says something in the garage - and his wife can't hear him - is he still wrong !!!

Thanks guys. The engine stamp by the alt is T08IIIV followed by the VIN: 18S146374. On the back of engine reads (can only determine 6 of possible 7 #'s) 39_6323. The only thing that makes sense would be 3916323. The first digit, and last three digits are clean. Just not 100% sure on the rest. Had to break out the krud cutter! The intake has #3885069. Well,hopefully this isn't a truck engine?

Thanks Bryon, here is a link to a photo of the oil pan. It looks as though from the description it may be a 2 step pan?
...

It's actually a 3-step
(count stamp transitions from the front seal)

I'd still do the oil change, add 4-quarts and then check the dip-stick mark (prior to starting the engine.
If it's anywhere near the 'Full' mark then it's the right stick and is a 4-quart pan - if not then you got some figurin' to do ... can you get it to 'full' by adding another quart, or , is the stick to short ...
You could also just order a 'repopped' dip-stick (NPD #C-1516-4 @$20) for your engine and see what kind of reading you get doing the above check - that should help you rule out the stick ...

1968 Convertible
Some trucks
Other V8 things - some of which float
Other V6 things - none of which float
Oh yeah, and 1 "Straight-Six" ...

If a man says something in the garage - and his wife can't hear him - is he still wrong !!!

Truthfully, at this point you can't as numerous changes may have taken place inside and out
But ... the application Suffix (the series of numbers that start with the "T") gives the 'state-of-tune' that GM originally assembled that particular engine to back in 1968.

The "IV" denotes the state-of-tune (or HP) as being an RPO-L35 325HP 396CI with a TH400 trans used in an Impala/Full Size
The '8' in the Partial VIN (the 18S146874) sequence denotes it was a 1968 model engine application.
The 'S' in that Partial denotes it was assembled in St. Louis final assembly plant assigned sequence #146874.

1968 Convertible
Some trucks
Other V8 things - some of which float
Other V6 things - none of which float
Oh yeah, and 1 "Straight-Six" ...

If a man says something in the garage - and his wife can't hear him - is he still wrong !!!

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Team Camaro Tech forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address.NOTE we receive a lot of registrations with bad email addresses. IF you do not receive your confirmation email you will not be able to post. contact support and we will try and help.Be sure you enter a valid email address and check your spam folder as well.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.